Potato seed cutting machine



Dec. 26, 1950 K. 6. BROWN 2,535,261

POTATO SEED CUTTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1949 i 'l 1' [.111 1 1: I I I.1111: 1111111 11 I I 1111' 11.1: 11111111111 1 if 57 Z; {a

0 Z40 INVENTORJ Ka /v.57 6 bieaw/v T E- W Wish Patented Dec. 26, 1950PATENT ormca zissazer Porno 's'EEnoUTTiNG MAGHINE" Kenneth GS. Brown,Mattitucli; NI Y. e ucatiomrebruaw 17, 1949, seriamonaosi.

z ciiaiine (o1. r4s-resi Broadly; my invention. involves; an. improvedmachine for cutting'certain vegetables, fruits; or the: like, althoughin the. resent disclosure itis illustrated and described as being;adaptable for potato: seedlcutting; I v

. He'retofore",. in; machines of this specifictype; no provision hasbeen made for'cuttiii'ga" quanit'i'ty -f graded potatbes simultaneously;thus? re siiltingjin tedious and time. consuming 'eration',aswelliasweai 'andtearontlre mach y:

My' invention overcomes this inherent-drawback by prcvidingameans foicutting a plurality of potatoes of differentsiz'es'and shapes at onetime.

It consists, generally,,.of a=frame-upon which are mounted a suitablenumber ofrel'atively long carriers'in which are nested several gradedpotatoes, together with a bank of knives-against'wliicli the carriersareadvancediin such mannerzas to slice the potatoes into the desirednumberof parts..

In a. more specific sense, my machineihvolves a rectan ular framesupporting a-pair ofendless chains with; gang carriers spanningthecliai'n's in spaced: relationship, in combination with a. bankofsta'g'gered knivesdis posed" in the path of'r'novementor tli'e'carriers: Each; carrier has. several pockets" or" recesses shaped to?conform with the contour of small, medium, and" large sized potatoes,and in. turn, each pocketis provided with appropriate slots, dependingupon the number of sections into which it is desired to cut thepotatoes. The knives are disposed in alignment with the slots, and arefashioned to correspond with the contour thereof. It is deemed importantin this connection, that the edges of the knives are slanted in echelonrearwardly from a longitudinal median line of the frame and that theknives I which are subjected. to the greatest frontal pressure, due toadvance of the largest potatoes, are located forwardly of the bank, thusequalizing the pressure and making. for a vertible slicing action of allpotatoes in the carrier. Furthermore the slots of the pockets and knivesare mated so that a plurality of potatoes of each grade aresimultaneously sliced into their components .To the accomplishment ofthe recited objects and others subordinate thereto, the preferredembodiment of'my invention. resides-I. in the construction andarrangement. of parts shown in the accompanying drawings, describedinthe following specification, and embraced within the scope of theappended claims.

In' said drawings;

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the machine embodying my invention, and

2. Fig. 2"is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalong lines. 3-3 of Fig. 1 illustrating one of. the carriers, and

Figs; 4and5, area side. elevation andend view,

respectively, of one of. the knives.

Referringmore particularly to Figs. 1. and 2') 5" designates arectangular frame having. depend; ing legs. 6 braced" by theintermediate longie tudinally'extencling. strut 8.. At. oppositeiextremities of the frame are pairs of sprockets. 9l0,', the former beingcarried at opposite ends of'the shaft. H and the. latter being mounted;on. stub shafts I21. Shaft H is also provided with a gear- Wheel l3"which is' connected with a motor M orany other" suitable source of powerby a chain I5. Trained" overthe' two sets of sprockets 9l.0.' areendless chains !Bl1 which, for the sake of pro te'ctioh', operate intheir top reach directly beneath the longitudinal side members 18' of;the frame, and arranged transversely at spacedfine tervals between" thechains are a plurality'ofcarriers'" I9. As best shown in Fig. 3', eachcarrier consists of a relatively long bar 20 with sets of multiplecompanion pockets 2!, 2'2 and 23" for holding graded potatoes. Forexample, pockets 2f'l' are? designed for small potatoes, as 24; pockets22 for medium size po'tato'e's'25; and pockets 2'3 for large sizepotatoes 26. And each setofpockets are slotted so that potatoes ofdifferent grades will be sliced to produce the best results for seeds.Set 2| has a single vertical slot 21 whereby small potatoes may be cutin half; set 22 has a vertical slot 28 and an intersecting slot 29extending horizontally in one direction, for cutting medium sizepotatoes'in three pieces; and set 23 has a vertical slot 30 and anintersecting horizontal slot 3| extending in two directions which isdesirable for cutting large size potatoes into four parts.

.Adjacent one extremity of the frame is suitably mounted an angularsupport 32. This. support straddles the frame and has dependingtherefrom a plurality of pairs of knives, as 33, 34 and 35. Common toeach knife is a horizontal head-plate 36 and a rearwardly slanted,vertically disposed blade 3! with a retreating cutting edge 38. vAndsome knives, as 34 have, in addition, a single lateral blade 39, whileother knives have lateral blades 40 extending in opposite directions, itbeing borne in mind that the disposition of the blade must conform tothe shape of the slots in the ockets of the carriers as it is throughthese slots that the blades must pass a the carriers, loaded withpotatoes, advance in their endless travel.

It will be further noted that the tandems of knives are fixed instaggered relation and that the cutting edge of each blade is rearwardlyinclined. It follows that as the potatoes of each grade are presented tothe knives, the larger ones come first, the medium ones next, and thesmaller ones lastall successively-and that each grade is sliced easily,smoothly and positively into the required number of sections.

In its broader aspects, my invention comprehends the employment, notonly of various means described, but of equivalent means for performingthe recited functions. By way of example, while not disclosed in thedrawings, the frame and its accessories, instead of lying in a horizontal plane, may be placed in a vertical plane and operated with equalsatisfaction. Also the number of pocket and knives may be increased ordiminished at will. It is desired to reserve the right to effect suchmodifications and changes as may come fairly within the scope of theappended claims;

I claim: 1. A machine of the class described, comprising a rectangularframe, a pair of sprockets spaced apart for substantially the width ofthe frame and disposed near each end thereof, endless chains trainedover each set of sprockets and operating adjacent opposite sides of theframe, a source of power for driving the sprockets, gang carriersarranged transversely and connected to 1 the chains, each carrierconsisting of a rigid, integral member including a plurality ofcontiguous pockets, the pockets being of graduated sizes, the smallestpocket having a single slot projectin outwardly of the carrier and thelargest pocket having a pair of intersecting slots, a bank of knives atonelend of the frame, the knife in the path of the smallest pocketcomprising a single blade projecting inwardly toward the carrier, theknife in the path of thelargest pocket having a blade projectinginwardly toward the carrier and .a pair of laterally projecting blades,the pockets adapted to support small and large potatoes, and the carrierdesigned to be advanced against the knives, whereby, in a singleoperation, the potatoes are out, according to their size, into two orfour pieces.

2. A machine of the clas described, comprising a rectangular frame, apair of sprockets spaced apart for substantially the width of the frameand disposed near each end thereof, endless chains trained over each setof sprockets and operating adjacent opposite sides of the frame, asource of power for driving the sprockets, gang carriers arrangedtransversley and connected to the chains, each carrier consisting of arigid, integral member including a plurality of contiguous pockets, thepockets being of graduated sizes, the smallest pocket having a singleslot projecting outw-ardlyof the carrier, the intermediate pocket havinga single slot projecting outwardly of the carrier and asing le laterallyprojecting slot and the largest pocket having a pair of intersectingslots, a bank of knives at one end of the frame,

theknife in the path of the smallest pocket comprising a single bladeprojecting inwardly toward thecarrier, the knife in the path of theintermediate pocket having ablade projecting inwardly of the carrier anda single laterally projecting blade, the knife in the path of thelargest pocket having a blade projecting inwardly toward the carrier anda pair of laterallyprojecting blades, the pockets adapted .to supportsmall, medium and large potatoes, and the carrier designed to be'advanced against the knives, whereby, in a single operation, thepotatoes are out, according to their size, into two, three or fourpieces.

KENNETH G. BRowNJf REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

